Thursday, December 14, 2006

Meanwhile in Palestine

UNICEF: 2006 One of the Worst Years for Palestine Children: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that 123 Palestinian children have been killed since outbreak of hostilities, more than double the 2005 figure, adding that some 340 children remain in detention facilities.
This year, says UNICEF, whether it is health care and education, protection from violence and abuse, or opportunities to play without fear - the rights of Palestinian children have been violated on an unprecedented scale.

Man dies en route to hospital as Israeli forces will not allow car to pass: Eyewitnesses reported that the incident took place at about 3:00 pm when Ramadan was being taken to the hospital. However the soldiers would not let them through so he tried to take another route to reach Nablus' Rafidiya Hospital. But progress was slow and medical sources at the hospital reported that Ramadan was dead on arrival, despite efforts to resuscitate him.

Palestinians with foreign passports on shaky ground: Palestinians say it is just one more hardship imposed on their lives and, more darkly, call it an attempt to rid the West Bank of some of the best, brightest and most moderate citizens with the education and wherewithal to improve the lives of people in the territory. "It's a terrible situation," said Yasser Abdelgani, 35, who divides his time between Clifton, N.J., and the West Bank and is in the second month of his three-month tourist visa. "This is the only place in the world where you are born here but you cannot live here."

High Court rejects appeal against separation "fence" in A-Ram: A seven-judge panel led by retired Supreme Court president Aharon Barak yesterday rejected by a vote of six to one a petition against the route of the separation barrier in northern Jerusalem, near the village of A-Ram. The minority opinion, Justice Miriam Naor, supported the request by residents of the village's Dahiat al-Barid neighborhood to move the wall, which bisects the village.

High Court: International law does not forbid targeted killings: The three-justice panel unanimously ruled that "it cannot be determined in advance that every targeted killing is prohibited according to customary international law." The decision is former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak's final ruling, and is expected to serve as a legal precedent in international law and war crime law.

Court orders criminal probe into IDF killing of Rafah girl in 2004: The High Court of Justice on Thursday ruled to open a criminal probe into the 2004 death of a Palestinian girl in the Gaza Strip shot by Israel Defense Forces soldiers, to determine whether illegal orders were given to open fire. The parents of the girl, 13-year-old Iman Darweesh al-Hams of Rafah, filed a petition to the court claiming that her killing constitutes a war crime.

Arab MKs: Ruling on targeted killings authorizes 'war crimes': MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) said in response that, "This is the continuation of the High Court's security-oriented stance, which since 1967 has authorized expropriation, expulsion, uprootings, and assassinations."

South African Government calls on Israeli Government to grant permission to UN Mission to Beit Hanoun: The South African government today Wednesday 13 December 2006 expressed its disappointment at the decision by the government of Israel not to grant permission to the mission mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to investigate the deaths of the 19 Palestinians in Beit Hanoun in November and called on the government of Israel to reconsider its decision.

Israel kills two Palestinians in West Bank: Earlier Thursday, occupation soldiers killed a Palestinian during a confrontation with stone throwers in the West Bank, Palestinian security sources and hospital officials said. Also in the West Bank, Israeli troops nabbed 12 Palestinians in different locations, witnesses said.

Israeli Navy fires at Palestinian fishermen, three injured: Israeli Navy ships fire at boats of Palestinian fishermen, near the coastal line northern Rafah in the Gaza strip on Wednesday night.

Israel: Haniyeh can enter Gaza, but without millions in cash: Israel agreed Thursday evening to allow Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to cross from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, but without the $35 million in cash he had brought from a tour of Muslim states.

Haniyeh heads for Gaza without cash he tried to bring:
An agreement was reached between Israeli and Egyptian security officials whereby the money would remain in the border town of El Arish and then be transferred to the Arab League in Cairo, Israel Radio reported. Witnesses saw three cars cross through the border area, despite an earlier announcement by European monitors that the border was closed.

Abbas to declare Hamas gov't as interim administration: According to the sources, Abbas will set March 2007 as time to call public referendum on holding early parliamentary and presidential elections. In his speech, Abbas will vow to pay salaries for the 165,000 government employees from the National Fund that belongs to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Hamas gunmen, PA guards clash at Rafah Crossing:
The Hamas members waiting outside the terminal grew impatient for Haniyeh's return and broke into the compound, shooting in the air. The Palestinian Presidential Guard, responsible for security at the terminal, began firing at them, according to an Associated Press journalist at the terminal.

PA intelligence agent linked to Fatah abducted in Gaza City: Abu Abir, a Popular Resistance Committees spokesman, confirmed the militant group was holding Abu Siyam. Abu Abir said said the intelligence officer would not be released until the detained Hamas and PRC-linked militant was freed, and he threatened to kidnap more intelligence officers.

Malaysia urges Palestinians to end rivalry:
Malaysia's foreign minister urged Palestinian factions Thursday to set aside their rivalry, warning that a civil war would destroy their common goal of an independent state.

American politician: Olmert must resign: "You won't hear the White House say it, but the US-Israeli relationship is absolutely not the same as it was before the Lebanon war. Olmert's complete mismanagement resulted in an Israeli loss to a few thousand Hizbullah guerrilla fighters. America now doesn't see Israel as this great Middle Eastern superpower it can depend on."

On sectarian and ethnic sobriquets - By Azmi Bishara: Arab societies face enough problems of their own making -- the transition to modernism, to the nation-state, and to the concept of the individual as citizen -- without having to contend with the attempts of colonialist powers, since Sykes-Picot and San Remo, to fragment the only historical basis -- the cultural and geographic bond -- upon which the Arabs could build a nation. There is no denying the existence of sects, denominational groupings and the like. However, the task of modern democratic nation- building is not a cloning process that can take place in sub-regional "homogenous" political test tubes.

Do we need Green Line?: This is what's been happening to the State of Israel for about 60 years, since it was established: We have no borders - neither blue, nor green or purple or any other color. Moreover, we're fighting for a line. This war continues and will apparently continue for many years to come before it is decided by war or through a comprehensive or phased peace agreement.

On the verge: Just like the Americans, who for the past four years have wasted their enormous national resources on a baseless belief in democratization in Iraq, Israel wasted its limited national resources on a baseless belief in the unilateral withdrawal from the Palestinian Authority.

West Bank poverty affects Bethlehem Christians: "Ten years ago, we would have been booming at this time of year - it's Christmas after all. But this year, I am lucky if I make 1,000 shekels ($220) in a week." While that might not seem like a small income, not only does Khalil have to use it to cover his costs, he also has to support his wife, four children, three brothers, sister and his mother.

UPI Poll: Bush favors Israel: Very few -- 1.8 percent -- of Zogby interactive poll respondents said the U.S. administration was "leaning toward the Palestinians" in how it was pursuing peace in the Middle East. Another 19.4 percent said U.S. President George Bush was "steering a middle course." However, 68.3 percent said the policies were "leaning toward Israel."

Israel worried Hamas and Iran developing strategic relations: In Israel, experts are interpreting Hamas' move toward Iran as an act of defiance, in part based on the group's success in minimizing the damage caused by the international embargo on its Palestinian Authority government.

Israeli Committee against Torture: High Court's ruling could increase killings: "We are afraid the High Court's ruling could create a dangerous slope in which the harming and killing of innocent citizens will increase." According to the Committee's data, since the start of the second intifada 500 Palestinians have been killed in targeted killings.

Jonathan Cook: Still Jews only: Recognising Israel's "right to exist" is in practice bowing to paranoid state racism

Support for Israel in Congress is Based on Fear: I can tell you from personal experience that the support Israel has in the Congress is based completely on political fear -- fear of defeat by anyone who does not do what Israel wants done.

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